Guided by the Wind
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: Girouette; that was his name, and at first that's all he knew about himself. Created to protect two special children that have yet to be born, Giro learns of the world around him. From finding Model Z to an odd physic link between twins, this is Giro's story and legacy. [AU]
1. Wide Open

_It is always so odd to see a Reploid with the appearance of a 20-something human adult act and move around their world as if they are newborn children with a curiosity wider than the sky itself. Humans will always look down on this behavior, even if it is exhibited in other humans; it it simply just how we function. I, for one, have always found it rewarding to teach a Reploid whose mentality mismatches their physical appearance, and it is one of the reasons why I pursue this type of work. The process fascinates me more than their own fascination when they learn something new. He was my last project for a variety of reasons, but he wasn't meant for me and the one I loved- he was built to protect them..._

-Ciel Roch-Roru, taken from a note dated April 29th

. . .

Girouette.

That was his name, but he didn't know much else.

"-an you hear me?" a female voice faded in within his internal speaker system. His hearing, in other words. "If you can, please, open your eyes."

Open... his eyes...? Did he even have eyes...?

As Girouette figured out where his eyes were located, the feeling of a warm something slipped into what he assumed was his hand. Another hand, by the feel of it squeezed his own with anticipation.

"Come on you idiot," the female voice told him in a tone that was anxious but loving, "You can do it. I know you can."

 _I must see her_ , Girouette thought to himself, _whoever she is, she is counting on me._

Slowly, Girouette was able to open his artificial eyelids to see a whole new spectrum of color. The colors swirled and danced as they arranged themselves into patterns and shapes that formed the environment around him. The patterns and shapes adjusted and formed into the appearance of a woman with blonde hair tied behind her in a high ponytail. Her blue eyes looked at him with a burning anxiousness and curiosity. For awhile, Girouette simply stared at her with his own blue eyes in wonder; she was the first human he had ever seen, and he found her quite beautiful.

"Are you... my... mother...?" Girouette asked in a soft voice that cracked a bit from new experience. The woman's face flushed a light red color.

"I suppose you could think that." she told him. "I did create you."

Girouette looked around the room a bit and came to terms that he was in a lab of some sorts. The woman was not dressed in an outfit that would have suggested such- maybe she was comfortable enough here to not feel obligated to? Or maybe she didn't have permission to be here...

"Do I... have a father?" Girouette asked, his eyes returned to stare into the woman's eyes. This question made the woman shift uncomfortably, as if the thought hurt her in some way.

"I guess... in some way you do, yes." she eventually said. "You were created with the living Reploid DNA of a fallen hero- much of his appearance and personality is now yours. You're not him, per se, but there are many similarities."

"What do I look like?" Girouette then asked with a new found burning curiosity. The woman looked at him with a side smile that was almost sad, but she helped him get up and guided him toward a full length mirror. That was when Girouette saw himself for the first time; he had long blonde hair that hung down his back like a cape, lightly tanned skin that seemed to highlight his bright blue eyes. He was currently dressed in a long white medical smock that hung loose and lifelessly against his body like a dull curtain.

The woman that created him looked back at him as he looked at himself in the mirror. She looked as if she was about to cry. Girouette could see her from the corner of the mirror's reflection and wondered why she was getting so upset- did the Reploid that shared most of his appearance mean a lot to her?

"What is this?" Girouette asked as he noticed a red triangle in the center of his forehead. He touched it out of curiosity and found that it was smoother than the rest of his forehead- his skin was simulated to feel like the skin that a human would have, but the triangle was as smooth as a triangular cut ruby.

"A common Reploid aesthetic." the woman claimed, her sorrowful look turning into one a bit more angered. "It denotes you as a Reploid. Without it, you would be considered illegal, and illegal Reploids are to be scrapped upon discovery."

Girouette turned to face the woman with a confused look.

"Why?" he asked, meaning no harm. "Is there something wrong with illegal Reploids?"

"I'd love to say no," the woman said to him as she shook her head, "But it depends on what the Reploid was made for, and who made them. Without a mark similar to the one you have, no one would know the difference, and if a Reploid was created without that marker and destined to kill... well... let's just say that there's a high possibility that there would be little the world could do to stop them."

Girouette thought about the idea for a moment, then nodded to show that he understood. Soon a silence filled between them as the flow of conversation started lack and wind down. Girouette then realized something that he hadn't thought to do earlier and felt that now was the time to do it.

"Hello ma'am," he told the woman with a nod, "My name is Girouette."

For a moment, the woman stared at him with a little bit of surprise before giving him a light smile. She then said to him with a warm and rather happy tone,

"Hello Girouette, you can call me Ciel."


	2. Mother Saint Ciel

Giro liked to wake up after coming out of sleep mode. He even started to make a sport out of it as he found and discovered different ways to get up and out to begin the day anew. Today, he fluttered his eyes open and slowly started to sit up. With a smile and feeling rather satisfied, Girouette looked around the lab for Ciel. The older woman was seated at a computer console that was connected to two chambers that wouldn't be out of place in a sci-fi movie that involved genetic clones. Looking at the chambers made Girouette uncomfortable, it gave him an odd feeling that told him that what he saw in those chambers was not normally seen by the average eye. Giro turned his attention away from the chambers with a small shudder as he got off of his metal cot.

"Mother?" Girouette said as he walked over to Ciel. "Mother Ciel?"

"Please don't call me that." Ciel told him with a side glance. "Do I look Catholic to you?"

Giro tilted his head at her with a bemused little smirk.

"I apologize," Girouette said, sounding rather genuine, "But I thought that Saint Ciel, patron saint of the Cyber Elves was too long winded for a simple, inquiring conversation. Was I wrong?"

Ciel stopped typing on her keyboard and pursed her lips together. Her face detailed a mixed emotion that wasn't sure whether to be angry, or amused.

"What is it Girouette?" Ciel then asked him, swirling her chair around to look at him.

"Is it possible for me to go out, outside of the laboratory?"

Ciel looked at him, then started to mull the idea over in her mind.

"Out to like the store or something, or just around the rest of the facility?" Ciel inquired. Giro shifted a bit, unsure of how to answer her; even if she was willing to let him go out, would she be comfortable enough to let a fairly new Reploid wander around by himself? Ciel had said herself that he was created with a similar likeness to a legendary Reploid, what if someone mistook him for that Reploid?

"I can stay in the facility if you want me to." Girouette told her.

"That would be the better idea." Ciel agreed. "I can't leave right now to show you around, so be careful. Alright?"

"Thank you," Giro said with a nod. "Mother Saint Ciel."

Before the old woman could respond, Girouette escaped out the door with a wide smirk of pride. Ciel looked back at the door Giro had gone through with a shake of her head.

"He's definitely not Zero," Ciel said to herself as she resumed her work, "But it's comforting to know that he has a sense of humor."

Truthfully, Giro had no idea what kind of building he was in nor what its layout was. It didn't stop him from walking down the hallways and using an elevator or two to move from floor to floor.

"Zero!" a young voice squealed as Giro walked down a hallway that contained doors that went to various bedrooms for the humans and Reploids that lived in the base. Confused, Girouette turned around and in a second was being hugged by a Reploid girl that was a head smaller than he was.

"Ciel said she wouldn't be able to rebuild you!" the young Reploid said happily as she nuzzled Girouette's chest. "She said that there wasn't enough parts to make you whole again, but you're-"

Giro gently pushed the Reploid girl back a bit, and she looked up at him. Her face went from a bright, happy smile to a deep red blush in embarrassment as she hid behind a white cat plushie doll.

"I-I-I'm s-so sorry sir." the Reploid girl then stuttered in a tiny voice as she buried her face further into her cat doll. "I-I thought that... I-I didn't mean to..."

Giro looked back on the girl with an inquisitive expression. If she were human, he would have guessed that she was almost 13 years old- but a red triangle in the middle of her forehead hidden behind fringe bangs insured that she was a Reploid.

"I'm very sorry if I reminded you of someone you lost recently." Giro told her, his calm and kind tone actually surprising the Reploid girl. "I was told by the woman that created me that I was built with parts of a lost legend. Was he your friend?"

The Reploid girl moved her cat doll so a single eye peered at Girouette.

"He... he's been gone for awhile." she told him quietly. "We... there was a big war and he helped to stop it. But he... he didn't make it. He had to... sacrifice himself for us. For _her_."

Girouette raised an eyebrow. The Reploid girl had said the word with a mixture of sadness and annoyance. There was more to this story, but he could employ it later when the topic didn't stress this Reploid as much.

"I apologize for asking, I can tell the subject hurts you." Giro told her. "If you don't mind though, after all this talking, I've realized I don't know your name."

The Reploid girl looked at Giro with both eyes now, but kept the cat doll against her face.

"Well..." she mumbled softly, "My name was Alouette, but since the modification, I had to register under a new name. When the paperwork clears in a few more weeks, you'll have to call me Prairie."

"Modification?"

Alouette nodded as she used one of her hands to trace the red triangle on her forehead. Instantly, Giro understood.

"They could have let you keep your old name." Girouette then said. "Alouette is a really lovely name for a Reploid like yourself; it suits you perfectly."

Alouette blushed lightly, but it was hidden behind her cat doll.

"Thanks." she said. She snapped out of it to look at him with a tilt of her head. "What's your name? You haven't told me your name yet either."

"Girouette." he told her. Alouette giggled a bit, which confused Giro.

"Your name is funny." Alouette openly admitted upon seeing Giro's face.

"What's so funny about it?" Giro asked her, unsure whether to feel angry or begin to feel upset that she would think his name was funny enough to laugh at.

"It means 'weather vane.'"

"So? One can kill a lark as well. Are you as easy to catch?"

Immediately, Alouette stopped giggling to give Giro a death glare that could have reanimated the dead and killed them off again; she almost looked as if she was going to use her cat doll as a weapon to hurl at him with a great amount of force that surely would have hurt him. Even though her expression was not what he had anticipated, Girouette did not go back on his word. They two stared at each other for a long time without saying anything.

"Girouette, please report to the laboratory." a voice said from over the facility's speaker system.

"If you would excuse me." Giro said to Alouette rather formally before turning on his heel to return to the lab. Alouette remained where she was as she watched him leave. After he disappeared around a turn, Alouette let out a sigh of relief.

He wasn't Zero, she knew that well now, but she couldn't deny there was something hauntingly similar about them. She wanted to know more about him, call her stupid or naïve, but she wanted to be his friend.


	3. Wind and Wing

Giro reentered the laboratory as Ciel looked over one of the two chambers with a clipboard in her hands. Giro observed as Ciel appeared to talk to the chamber as well as she recorded notes about the creature inside the chamber as it moved in response to her voice. Giro cleared his throat, to let Ciel know he had come back. The old woman turned to look at him.

"Girouette." she said as if she had forgotten something.

"I was told that you needed me." he said to her.

"Yes." Ciel agreed as she placed her clipboard on her desk. "Come over here to the chambers, I have something tell you."

Girouette did what he was told and walked over to the chambers to stand next to Ciel. He couldn't look at what was inside, he just couldn't, so he looked at Ciel instead. The woman sighed unhappily as she looked at the chambers.

"Science is interesting." she said dimly. "Who would have thought a hundred years ago that one day we would have creatures that are equally robotic and humanoid?"

In a motion that Girouette couldn't control, he quickly turned his body to look at the chambers. Is that what was in there? Hybrids...? What ever they were, were they... alive...?

"When I was younger," Ciel then said to Girouette, "There was a war that a heartbroken and lost man created to reclaim what he thought was his. He did not know it at first, but I was working on something that was to be the ultimate bridge between robotics and humanity- a job that was given to me from my adoptive mother in memorial of a legend and his lover. About fifteen years ago, those two children were nicknamed Crea and Prea, and they were the Mother Elf's children."

Giro flashed Ciel a wild look of fear. Ciel bowed her head and continued with her story.

"But the children proved to be as powerful as their mother and had to be cut down." Ciel turned her back to the chambers and started to walk away. "Crea and Prea were backups of the completed DNA, they weren't meant to be so powerful. Maybe it was Weil's influence once he found out about them, maybe I under estimated the power of the Mother Elf, maybe... maybe I was just... _wrong_ to begin with. I was screwing around with nature, what did I expect to happen?"

Giro continued to stare at her. Behind him, the creatures in the chambers wiggled and moved as if they knew they were being talked about. Ciel turned to look at Giro again.

"Zero (the one whose parts you are made out of, if you've ever wanted his name), he was told to protect them. 'Protect the twins' she told him. We couldn't decipher what she meant until it was too late- the moment we found out was the moment when I found _them_."

Girouette's pupils became small as he looked at Ciel, then threw a look at the chambers.

"Encased in their own separate, artificial amniotic sac," Ciel then said as she too looked at the chambers. "The perfect combination of Reploid and human DNA in a single body; Zero was told to protect them, but Zero is no longer here. Girouette... it's your turn now."

Giro slowly started to shake his head.

"I can't." he told her. Ciel closed her eyes and made a sound of discomfort.

"I hate to say it," the old woman admitted, "Because it goes against everything I've wanted for over forty years. But you _must_ , it was what you were built for."

"Because no one else wants to babysit a pair of genetic anomalies?" Girouette asked, slowly starting to lose his temper. "Because my entire existence is due to a fallen hero who didn't understand the promise he made?"

"Zero knew full and damn well what kind of promise he made!" Ciel shouted at him, she too losing her temper as well.

"Then why didn't you recreate him instead of making a new idiot to do the job?!" Giro hollered back at her.

"Because I couldn't!" Ciel screamed. "Do you think that if I could rebuild him, I would have by now?! I loved Zero, I _wanted_ him back, because of his sacrifice I couldn't do it! It was like he didn't want to be revived! It was like he didn't care about us after all! It was like he didn't love us -love me- like he led us all to believe!"

"He never claimed to be a hero." Girouette told Ciel darkly, an odd mixture with his normally gentle tone that nearly scared Ciel. "I bet he didn't know he was a fighter until you taught him how."

Ciel glared at Girouette. But then she noticed the chambers behind him.

"Holy shit..." the old woman mumbled. "They're crying."

The odd statement made Giro look at Ciel quizzically before turning around to look at the chambers. Sure enough, the little creatures inside their individual chambers appeared to be crying as they violently thrashed about with their lower lips quivering as their mouth mimicked the motion of a silent scream. Giro's heart fell at the sight. Carefully, he walked up to the chambers and placed a hand on each of them. Surprised for a moment that the chambers did not have glass surrounding them, but a rather creepy skin-like texture, Giro rubbed the chambers calmly and slowly. The creatures inside their respective chamber slowly started to calm down and ceased to thrash about in a full tantrum. When they calmed down, Giro kept his hands on the chambers as he looked from one creature to the other.

"How old are they?" Girouette asked as he continued to stare at them.

"At that size, they'd be about 21 weeks." Ciel told him, her voice soft and almost unable to be heard. "But it's been much, much longer than that."

"How much longer?" Giro inquired.

"Like, forty-five years longer."

"How long has Zero been gone?"

"Counting the hours he's left only made the pain hurt more... Alou- Prairie would know. She really hoped I could bring him back some day."

Girouette nodded absentmindedly as he continued to look from one child to the other.

"I can't change the direction of the wind," he started to say as he looked to the small child on his right, "But I'll know what direction it travels in."

"And...?" Ciel asked, not to be rude but out of genuine curiosity.

"And..." Giro continued, looking to the child on the left, "Like a family of birds, they'll be protected under the wing of someone loving."

"Would that be you, then?"

Giro nodded as if he were in a trance.

"Yes... it will."


	4. Skill

**Several Months Later...**

. . .

As time wore on, Giro noticed that it became evident that Ciel was the only human in the facility. This wasn't so bad at first, but then you had to realize; this meant that she did a lot of human activities, such as eating, alone. Whenever Ciel left the lab for whatever reason, Prairie usually followed behind her, if not Prairie then Giro himself would go with Ciel. Some times, they both went with the human woman although they had no need. No matter what she said however, Ciel was always secretly grateful that someone would come along with her to do her mundane (and quite boring) human exercises. Giro and Prairie needed to stop staring at her when she ate though, it was starting to get rather creepy.

As Ciel at lunch with Giro and Prairie across from her, they were staring at her again, but at least they pretended to keep an idle conversation between themselves.

"All I'm saying is that it wouldn't matter how powerful the weapon was, as long as the wielder doesn't know it's true power and potential, then it's no use even equipping it!" Prairie argued. Her cat doll was surprisingly not with her at the moment, something Ciel had taken note of a few weeks ago when she had done the same thing the other day.

"And I've told you before, I completely agree with the statement." Giro told her calmly. "However, once you have a weapon so powerful, how do you get rid of it safely?"

"You don't." Ciel said before taking a sip from her cup. "It would be so powerful that you couldn't dispose of it in a safe and humane way."

"See?" Giro said to Prairie with a blink, "Even Mother understands the situation."

"Then why create it at all?" Prairie demanded, getting so worked up that she ended up slamming her hands on the table. Giro and Ciel looked at Prairie in surprise, and after realizing what he did, the Reploid girl shrunk a little in her seat with embarrassment. "Sorry... I... I got a little carried away..."

Ciel wasn't so sure about this.

"Prairie, which member of the Sage Trinity oversaw your modifications?" Ciel asked. "I know it's been awhile, but do you remember?"

"Oh, sis, that _was_ awhile ago... um, Master Mikhail, I think." the Reploid girl told her sister-figure.

"I thought you told me that Master Albert was going to oversee your modifications." Ciel said with a frown.

"He was." Prairie agreed with a nod. "But something happened, some family matter or another, and he wasn't able to make it."

"Family matter? That's... odd..."

"What's odd?" Girouette asked curiously, never before hearing about the Sage Trinity before- which was odd in and of itself, but that wasn't the focus at the moment.

"Master Albert doesn't have a family." Ciel said to him as she shook her head in thought. "At least, not any more. His father, Dr Weil, died and his mother was gone long before any of us were even thought of."

"Weil..." Giro said in a thoughtful tone. "Wasn't he the one that started the second Elf Wars?"

"The same, yes." Ciel agreed.

"More like the one that killed Zero..." Prairie mumbled darkly. Ciel flashed the Reploid girl a nasty look, but recoiled with a sigh. The opinion wasn't right, but it wasn't wrong either.

"What an... interesting family..." Girouette then said to himself as he looked down. The girls agreed with him in a silence. A silence that overtook the little lunch table as Ciel finished with the rest of her lunch. After that, they remained where they sat as they thought of things that didn't need to be thought of.

"I'm going to rename them." Giro then said out of the blue, surprising Ciel and Prairie equally. Unaware that he had spoken outloud, Giro looked up to see the female's confused looks.

"Who are you renaming?" Ciel asked. Giro started to speak, but the words got lost before passing through his lips.

"The twins." he finally said. In a moment of realization, Ciel let out a sound of understanding.

"There he is!" someone said quite loudly from the door. Ciel, Giro, and Prairie turned at the same time to see two male Reploids coming toward them. One of the Reploids was tall and muscular, the other was small and lanky built.

"Can I help you two with something?" Ciel asked them, confused as to why they were coming over to the trio.

"Hello Miss Ciel." the tall one said to her with a smile. "Can we borrow Not-Zero for a little training practice? I told Fusil that he was good with a buster, but he didn't believe me."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you Bataille," the smaller Reploid interjected, "It was his skill with that replica Z-saber I wanted to see for myself."

"Giro is never any where near the training arena." Prairie told them, expressing extreme doubt and feeling the urge to laugh at the idea.

"Not when anyone's looking, he isn't." Bataille said to her with a wink. Prairie raised an eyebrow in confusion before turning to look at Giro, who likewise looked rather confused.

"You've been training?" Ciel asked him, actually feeling rather bemused at the moment. "What for?"

Giro opened his mouth in response, but he was being shoved out of his seat by Fusil and Bataille and escorted out of the room before he could he utter a sound.

"Well then..." Ciel mused. "I'm going to go watch."

"Sis!" Prairie exclaimed. Ciel looked at Prairie with a good natured smile.

"If he does well enough, I may give him a present." Ciel then said. Prairie's jaw dropped, to which Ciel laughed at. "Don't give me that look. I know you want to watch as badly as I do."

"You told me he didn't have that strand of Zero's DNA." Prairie told her sister in a lowered tone.

"I told you he didn't have Zero's consciousness, in which I told the truth." Ciel replied. "I didn't know that he was fleshing out his skill in the training room either until Fusil and Bataille took him away. If we don't hurry though, we're gonna miss watching him, so are you coming or not?"

. . .

If her jaw could go any lower, it would have dropped down to the floor. Giro had incredible skill with the saber given to him- just how long has he been practicing to become that skilled since his creation? Prairie was frozen in place, not that she wanted to move away either. Ciel looked over to the Reploid and held back her laughter.

"I've got to make a call to a friend," Ciel told Prairie as she rubbed her Reploid sis on the back, "I'll come back with some tools to reset your neural drives. Will you be fine until then?"

Prairie gave a small nod to show that she agreed. With a wide grin, Ciel gave the Reploid girl a small pat on the back before going to make a very important request.


	5. The Queen Bitch: Part I

Ciel had called it an errand- nothing of real importance but needed to be done as soon as possible. Girouette wasn't built to be an idiot, he knew she was either lying to him or she was hiding more details than what she wanted to let on. Either way, Giro felt the right to be as suspicious as he wanted to be. That was before Ciel even mentioned that he was going to traverse a moving circus the lower dignified folks called the black market.

"The woman you're looking for goes by the name of Ren Bonne." Ciel told him as they prepared to have him go. "She should be rather easy to find, just be careful who you mention her to."

"And you're letting me go alone?" Girouette asked her with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow. "But Mother Ciel, I thought you loved me."

Ciel let out a small chuckle, as unsettled as it was considering she wasn't sure whether Giro was being serious or not.

"Mrs Bonne would not be very happy if you went alone." Ciel told him. "She'll recognize Prairie though, hopefully."

"Hopefully?"

"Mrs Bonne knows Prairie had modifications done, and although my adoptive sister doesn't look much different than what she did before, Mrs Bonne can be a bit... eccentric at times."

"That does not comfort me any." Girouette told her, his face devoid of all expression. Ciel refused to acknowledge it and instead helped him finish his preparations to leave.

. . .

Giro noticed that Prairie had brought along her cat doll with her. The days she would carry the old thing around were not really consistent, but it was usually when Prairie felt stressed or vulnerable. Not that Giro could blame her, considering their destination and the hopes Ciel had badly tried to set to them.

"I _really_ hope Mrs Bonne is in a good mood today..." Prairie said to herself. Giro looked at Prairie with a curious side glance.

"Why?" Giro inquired, "Is she more temperamental than what Mother says she is?"

Prairie didn't look at him, but she gave a snort to illustrate that Mrs Bonne was more than just 'temperamental' than what Ciel had tried to claim.

"Mrs Bonne isn't the puppy Ciel makes her out to be." Prairie told Giro. "Everyone that meets her can't stand to be around her."

"Is she rude?"

"She's _terrifying_!" Prairie squeaked as she held her cat doll close. Giro raised an eyebrow- surely this Mrs Bonne wasn't that terrifying... could she? Prairie picked up on his skepticism and continued her statement,

"Before either of us were even diagrams on a sheet of paper, Mrs Bonne was a generic Reploid with a single destiny. Her only goal in life was to... um... fulfill... certain... pleasures in humans. A human guy named Di Bonne found her and felt sorry for her and her changed her programming."

"What makes that wrong?" Giro asked.

"Well..." Prairie started to tell him with a little glance to the side, "Di wasn't a Reploid programmer, not a registered one at least like Sis is. And the man that owned her before wasn't happy when he found out that Di changed her- the man went out of his way to make sure that Di would be caught and put in jail for the illegal act."

"What did Ren think about it?" Giro inquired, feeling quite interested in the story.

"She was livid." Prairie told him with wide eyes. "More livid than what she's going to be when you call her by her first name without the honorific. She proposed to be Di's wife right then and there on the spot in front of her original handler, the cops, and a whole slew of harmless pedestrians."

"And that made everything better?" Giro questioned as he raised an eyebrow.

"No." Prairie admitted. "But the human/Reploid relationship topic was a lot... stickier back then. Reploids didn't have a marker on them, so someone had to ask the other if they were Reploid or not; it's like asking a human about their sexual orientation, some will get really offended if you call them the wrong thing. Likewise in this new scenario, humans slowly became more and more insulted when they were called Reploid, and not all Reploids liked to be associated with humans."

"But did Ren love Di?"

Prairie stopped walking to look at Girouette.

"I have no idea." the Reploid girl told him. "But I didn't know her as well as Ciel did. I do know that after Di passed on, Mrs Bonne came to Ciel for a favor about thirteen years ago. I don't know much else besides that."

Giro nodded to show he understood before the two continued to walk to their destination.

. . .

The twelve year old girl creature stared at the two as the crossed the invisible boundary line that started and began the territory her mother reigned over. Although one wouldn't suspect she was twelve at first, considering she looked to be closer to nine years, but it was going to help her scare them out of the black market's territory one way or another. With a plan set, the girl positioned herself in way of their path and started to make a pathetic little moaning sound. It didn't take the two strangers long to come over to her- they were both Reploids, but they were special because as they got closer the girl realized that the female of the two was holding a white cat doll, and the male wore a red jacket she nearly envied. She would have liked hers in orange though, but this wasn't the time to be thinking of clothes, it was the time to make a bunch of strangers run back in fear.

"Please help me." the little girl cried out pitifully. The two strangers looked at her, then looked at each other.

"I don't think she's human." the woman said to the man.

"Does it matter?" the man replied in a soft, gentle tone that almost made the girl feel bad about what she was doing. But... how could someone's voice make her feel regret over something she almost took pride in and nearly made a sport out of it?

"If she's a Reploid, then she's illegal."

"So?"

The woman looked at the man as if he were crazy. The girl recognized it as a look that someone gives to you when they told you something before and they thought you weren't listening when you purposely go against it later. Regardless, the man did not look at the woman as he walked over to the girl to help her up.

"Your friend is right." the girl told the man. "I'm very dangerous. I have more connections than a wireless router. I have an army that could scare off terrorists with a snap of the finger. My mother is a feared dragon in a land of wind and wheat!"

The man looked the girl dead in the eye.

"You need help." he told her in a fairly blunt tone. "Unless you're lying, of course."

The girl looked away from him and did not answer. She was, on several accounts, but she wasn't going to tell him that any time soon.


	6. The Queen Bitch: Part II

"Do you have a name?" Girouette asked the girl as he helped her to stand up. Giro thought her to be rather adorable, even if she was human, her abnormally colored light blue hair really stood out against her green eyes and light Asian skintone.

"It depends on who you are." the girl told him with an unimpressed side glance. "Everyone I know gives me a name they feel describes me the best."

"What name does your mother give you?" Giro inquired.

"That depends on what mood she's in." the girl then claimed with a light chuckle. Girouette gave a small smile back.

"What name does she call you when she's about to rip your head off because you've done something so careless and harmful that you could have died?"

The girl looked at Giro for a moment, then started to laugh a bit. Prairie behind them looked on with a mixture of surprise and skepticism.

"Ashe." the girl said to Girouette. "Ashe You-freaking-idiot! Bonne."

"How about I just call you Ashe instead?" Giro asked her with a smile. The girl smiled back.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." came the reply. The duo looked at each other with a smile for a little bit before Ashe had an idea.

"Come with me," she then said, taking a hold of Girouette's hand and pulling it towards her, "Momma said she was expecting some guests today, and I just now realized that it could be you!"

"Show us the way." Giro agreed. Ashe nodded, then started to head north of their location. Girouette and Prairie followed behind her without much question.

"I hope you don't think Mrs Bonne would be as easy to convince than that girl." Prairie hissed to Girouette in a low tone so Ashe couldn't hear.

"I wasn't trying to convince her of anything." Giro proclaimed, giving Prairie a side glance. "Don't give me that look, I know there's more to her than what she's letting on. Her execution was cunning, well rehearsed even. There's no way a child that looks to be nine years old could hold an staged act like that so convincingly, and with well intent of what the outcomes would be if it went according to plan. It's not impossible, but it's not very common either."

"And you deduced all of that, just by looking at her?"

"No." Giro admitted. "But I can read a hint."

Prairie held her tongue as they followed Ashe further into the black market center. Ashe cheerfully waved and greeted many vendors who did not seem to reciprocate the child's eagerness. Eventually, the girl led them to a lone blanket that lay in the middle of the cemented ground, then proceeded to get down on her hands and knees to act as if she was looking for something.

"There's nothing here." Prairie mumbled, keeping mostly to Girouette. "Is this the part where we get mugged?"

Ashe jumped up suddenly, and was an inch away from Prairie's face within a heartbeat. The young girl's face expressed one of annoyance and dislike. Ashe then looked Prairie head to toe.

"I don't like you." Ashe told Prairie. "Momma will strike a good piece of fear into you whether you're prepared for it or not."

"The pup knows her master well." Girouette inputted to Prairie. "'I agree, you should be a bit more wary here."

Ashe then snapped her head toward Giro, and prepared to tell him something before someone cut her off;

"Wise words from one who has never been in the area before." a voice said from behind them.

"Momma!" Ashe exclaimed. Likewise, Prairie turned around and saw an aged woman with graying hair that was held tightly behind her in a bun and dressed completely in black. She held a certain kind of beauty about her, but looking at her also gave an overwhelming feeling of fear that Girouette found shocked him more than anything.

"Mrs Bonne!" Prairie exclaimed as well, surprised that the Reploid woman was directly behind her.

"I see Ciel let you go through with the Sage Trinity's futile regrowth plan." Mrs Bonne bitterly told Prairie. "I thought the woman had more sense in her than that. Never doubt her love for you, I suppose, is all that I can say to you. What name did they assign to you after being modified?"

"Prairie." the Reploid replied, clutching her cat doll uncomfortably. Mrs Bonne scoffed with amusement.

"Alouette suited you better, much more graceful and fitting- now you're saddled with a noun? Idiots and jackasses, the entire lot of them. Taking away a Reploids freedom is one thing, taking their identity is another."

"Is that why you have not gone through with the modification yet?" Giro spoke up. Mrs Bonne looked at him with a hard unwavering stare.

" _I_ have not gone 'through with the modification' because I believe that it strips a Reploid of their identity, it is a way for our elected official to override and take control of your very being for the want and fear of humans. Who is to say that one day the Sage Trinity pulls a trigger or switch and 'poof' all Reploids are shut down and the humans die in their own filth."

"Although it makes for an interesting conversation," Girouette said to her without blinking, "You seem to place humans in a lower place. I could understand such a stand point, if I did not meet a creature that holds DNA from both a human and Reploid."

"There is no such thing here." Mrs Bonne told Girouette in a low tone.

"You are bluffing." came the reply. "That girl right there, the one who calls you her mother- she has hybrid DNA, does she not?"

Mrs Bonne gave him a dirty look, but it slowly began to form into a smirk of impressed origins.

"I do not fear you." Girouette then said to her. "Ren."

Mrs Bonne looked at him with a side smirk of approval.

"I suspected as much." the old Reploid said to him. Mrs Bonne then turned to Ashe and said to her in a demanding tone, "Go get the packages, these are the ones I wanted."

Ashe nodded and quickly left. Mrs Bonne then turned her attention to Girouette.

"To call me by the name I chose after my departed husband redirected my life is a death wish in and of itself. Ciel told me you were observant, and being able to tell that my freak is special proves to me that you can handle new challenges easily. Our world does not need more adapters though- it needs humans and Reploids that break the common grounds and shatters them into million of pieces. I expect you to do the same, to break to common ground, because a new era is approaching whether we're ready for it or not."

"I have the packages Momma!" Ashe proclaimed as she came back with two packages wrapped in brown paper in her hands. The young girl then gave them to Giro without a second thought. The packages were not that heavy, Giro found, and one of them started to feel warmer and warmer at the touch of his fingertips that he almost dropped the packages in surprise.

"Don't drop them you idiot!" Mrs Bonne screeched as Ashe and Giro made a dive for the packages before they hit the ground. Each of them caught one just in time.

"Are you okay?" Ashe asked Girouette, her face looked rather pale. "They've never hurt me before, did they hurt you?"

Giro looked at Ashe and shook his head. The girl looked a bit more relieved now and Giro smiled at her to show that it was all good. Prairie whipped her head around to look at Mrs Bonne.

"What on earth is in those packages?!" Prairie questioned. "What is in there that would have shocked Girouette like that?"

"Not bombs, I can assure you." Mrs Bonne told her with a side smirk. "Ciel would know if you're extremely desperate to find out."

"Be careful with them." Ashe then said to Girouette in a low tone. Giro nodded, accepting the responsibility of whatever these packages contained.


	7. A New Promise

"I'm glad you came back safely." Ciel said with relief when Prairie and Giro returned to Ciel's lab. "Was Mrs Bonne able to get your packages?"

"I have them." Prairie said as she pulled out the packages to hand to Ciel. Giro observed as Ciel's old face lit up a little as the packages were placed in her hands.

"It's been awhile since I've seen these two." Ciel said, mostly to herself, in a tone that made her sound like she was talking to an old friend.

"Sis, just what are they?" Prairie spoke up. "When we were picking up the packages, one of them almost hurt Giro."

Ciel looked up at Prairie, then looked over to Giro.

"They did?" Ciel inquired with a curious tilt of her head.

"What's more is that Mrs Bonne's daughter, she called herself Ashe, made a remark that made it seem as if she knew the same sensation Girouette received." Prairie continued as she folded her arms in skepticism.

"She _did_?" Ciel asked, becoming quite surprised at this revelation. "I wonder..."

"What _are_ they Ciel?" Prairie repeated, this time with more emphasis. Ciel, however, seemed to be ignoring her sister as the old woman went into a deep train of thought.

"Perhaps it's nothing important." Girouette then said, talking to Prairie. "Let's leave Mother alone for a few minutes so she can think it over."

Prairie gave Giro a look that illustrated that she wanted to prod and investigate further, but he was having none of it.

"I promised Bataille and Fusil that I would train with them some time today." Girouette then told her, attempting to bribe Prairie. "If you would like, you are invited to come watch. Last time, I couldn't help but notice you were more than a little impressed the first time- perhaps you would like to see me a bit more skilled now that Fusil has offered to help me hone my saber skills?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Ciel agreed, coming out of her thoughts. "Go on Prairie, I may join you after analyzing the Bio-... the packages."

Prairie looked at Ciel with a less than trusting look, but relented as Giro came over to gently guide her out of the room.

. . .

Much later on that day, Ciel had requested that Prairie go on a walk with her around the facility. This left Giro alone inside the facility; truthfully, he didn't have much to do when either Ciel or Prairie were unavailable to spend time with. He didn't particularly feel like going back to the training room to work on his abilities with the buster or saber either. This left only one idea and it was an idea he felt that he was lukewarm about- he decided to visit the twins.

No where else to go, Giro walked the familiar path to Ciel's laboratory. As he came closer, however, he started to pick up a noise of two different people speaking. Giro found it odd- no one was allowed in Ciel's lab if she wasn't in there...

 _'They look a lot like her...'_

 _'That's a pretty radical idea Model X, you have no idea who you're talking about.'_

Giro pressed his ear against the door of Ciel's lab. There were voices alright, but who were they coming from. Better yet... _what_ were they coming from if no one was allowed the room without Ciel there?

 _'I_ do _know who I'm talking about Model Z.'_

 _'Oh really? I doubt that. We're only the wills of heroes passed- not the entire person.'_

 _'I do, stop being so cynical! I do remember her, she's... she's like an angel.'_

 _'Angels do not exist.'_

 _'Well if you're going to act like that!'_

Giro pressed his ear even closer to the door now. This conversation... something about it... it was... familiar...?

 _'Don't you see it too Model Z? Can't you see the light they shine in a world of darkness? You can't tell me that those two humanoids do not cause you to remember something important or long forgotten!'_

 _'I... I can admit there is something about them that makes me want to remember a lost promise, yes. But to say that they remind me of someone else, Model X, it makes me believe that you are giving in to a more older, unstable ISO.'_

 _'Perhaps you are too then, if that's the case; you're usually not this passive-aggressive against me.'_

"Girouette, what on earth are you doing?"

Surprised, and scared out his wits by the calm voice of Ciel behind him, Girouette jumped a foot away from the lab door and instantly turned to face his creator.

"I'm sorry." Girouette immediately said, giving her a bow in fear and reverence. "I... I'm really sorry Mother! I didn't mean to... I- I thought I heard someone on the other side. I couldn't pin down their voices either, but they were rather familiar too. I wanted to... I didn't mean..."

Ciel looked at Girouette, then looked at her lab door with a soft expression that bordered onto confusion.

"Giro..." Ciel then started to say, almost sounding as if she were unsure whether she should talk or not, "You've been with me for awhile now. I... I think it's time that you go on your own, making a living for yourself."

Girouette looked at her with a horror stricken face.

"No, no, no- not like that!" Ciel quickly corrected. "I'm not kicking you out, I promise. I just feel that it's time for you to leave the nest, so to speak. Prairie already takes very good care of me, and you need something else to do than follow me around all day."

"What about the twins?" Girouette questioned, still feeling as if Ciel was betraying him now.

"They will stay with me until they are able to be... born, really." Ciel told him. "But first, I want you to meet someone. Someone very special that you'll need to rely on later if we want this to work. But I need you to make me a promise."

"I seem to do that a lot." Girouette bitterly mumbled. Ciel let out a sigh of saddened agreement before she put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I trust no one else with the Biometals, not even Prairie." Ciel softly told him. "I need to know you'll be committed... even if it means taking your own life. Giro... my sweet, confused child... there are going to be a lot of changes under this fickle promise- I know you can do it, but I need to know if _you_ know you can do it."

Girouette did not look at Ciel as she desperately tried to help him see that this was something of great -and grave- importance. After a few moments, Ciel took her hand off of Giro and turned to walk away.

"Wait." Girouette said to her. Ciel turned to look at him and in turn, he looked her in the eye. The next sentence that came out of his mouth was as toneless as his eyes were soulless; "Let me meet them, then I will decide."


	8. Biometal

The lights were dimmed inside Ciel's laboratory. The only source came from the chambers that held the hybrid children, an odd light if there ever was one, considering Ciel did not put a light in the chambers to begin with. Regardless, Giro went to the chambers while Ciel locked the door in every way imaginable.

"Who were you talking to?" Giro asked the twins in a low voice so Ciel couldn't hear him. The little hybrids moved and wiggled to Giro as if they wanted to tell him something important, their eyes also opened and looked at him a little; they could see him, Ciel once said, but that didn't mean they could see him well.

"Girouette." Ciel said, motioning for him to come closer to her. Taking one last look at the twins, Giro complied with Ciel's direction and walked over to her. The old woman looked at him with a rather saddened look.

"Are you _sure_ you want to do this?" she asked. "This could very well change your entire life. Everything is going to change at this point. Everything. Do you understand the risks that are going to come with it?"

Girouette looked at her; this woman -the woman that built him, the woman that knew his potentials before he was even activated, the woman who gave so much and never asked for anything in return- was scared. Was she afraid of losing him? Was that not the reason why she created him to begin with, was to put his life on the line to protect innocents?

"Mother Saint Ciel," Girouette said to her. "Whatever happens to me, I'm ready. If I choose to take whatever path that may come out of this, where ever it leads it will always be for those two little babies inside those chambers you created. Wasn't that the reason behind my creation?"

Ciel looked at Girouette with a certain kind of sorrow, but nodded her head.

"Girouette," Ciel finally said, "I want you to meet Biometal X and Biometal Z."

Upon her saying this, absolutely nothing happened.

Giro gave Ciel a rather patient stare although the old woman seemed a bit surprised that nothing had happened. Giro then turned toward the chambers, and looked directly at the base.

"I can see you." Girouette said to the base of the chambers. The base of the chamber that held the female hybrid was a blue six-sided object that almost resembled a face, while the base of the chamber that held the male hybrid was a red and black. The two objects started to float in the air on their own will, Ciel likewise looked rather relieved that she wasn't going completely mad yet.

 _'Hello Girouette.'_ a voice that seemed to come from the blue Biometal said in a tone that was worn but caring. _'I am Biometal X.'_

 _'You seemed to know where we were well enough.'_ a voice that came from the red Biometal said in a tone that was cold and convicted with dignity. _'I am Biometal Z.'_

"Has Ciel told you anything about me?" Girouette asked with curiosity. "She's certainly never mentioned any of you before."

 _'We do not need someone else to tell us your core personality points.'_ Biometal Z explained. _'We can tell what they are just by scanning you.'_

"You're able to scan me?" Giro mused.

 _'We scan humans and Reploids alike so we can form a Biolink with them.'_ Biometal X affirmed. _'Only a certain few are able to contain the power we hold. When we scan a liable being, we are able to determine whether they are suitable as a host.'_

"Am I a suitable host?" Girouette then questioned as he raised an interested eyebrow. It was at that moment that Giro felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to look at Ciel.

"Extend one arm, and tuck the other in." she told him, even demonstrating a pose, "Slightly spread your legs apart in a territorial stance, and address one of the Biometals before saying 'Megamerge!' with conviction and meaning."

"Conviction and meaning...?" Girouette questioned with a teasing smirk. Ciel snapped out of her pose just to glare at him.

"Just trust me." she told him. "Try it."

Girouette looked at his creator with a look of teasing disbelief, but did what she had instructed.

 _Now, which one do I choose first?_ Giro then mused to himself. _Well, Biometal X had chosen Aile's chamber to reside by before we came along, and Aile seems to respond better to my voice than Vent does... perhaps Biometal X would choose me as well...?_

"Biometal X," Girouette then said, taking on a variation of the pose Ciel told him to do, "Megamerge!"

There was a second's delay as Biometal X started to glow brightly, but the light dimmed as quickly as it had begun.

 _'Biolink failure.'_ Biomental X's voice said inside of Girouette's mind. _'Incompatible host.'_

"Didn't think that would work..." Ciel muttered under her breath. Girouette gave his creator a certain glare (tucking away the question of whether she could hear the Biometals too for later) and tried again. Thank god that there were only two Biometals with them right now and failure was an option...

"Biometal Z, Megamerge!" Girouette then decreed. This time, the Biometal immediately responded as it started to glow brightly.

 _'Biolink established.'_ Model Z declared. _'M.E.G.A. System online!'_

In a second the Biometal started to attach itself to Girouette's body- an act that was more painful that would it likely was for the first time. Girouette let out a scream of surprise and terror as the Biometal wrapped itself around his body to form armor and created two unique weapons that Girouette realized he knew quite well beforehand. When Biometal Z finished its transformation onto Girouette's body, the Reploid fell to the ground in an exhausted (yet slightly overpowered) heap.

"What... how...?" Girouette sputtered as the pure power from Biometal Z coursed through his veins like a racecar at full speed. It was so invigorating, while also very horrifying. What did Ciel see during all of this? Was the transformation just as gruesome as what it felt like?

Ciel bent down beside Giro as his body trembled with raw energy.

"No one must know that you are in possession of a Biometal." she told him softly as she used her hand to rub his back comfortably. "You're able to switch back into your normal appearance, but never switch to Biometal Z's appearance unless you're alone."

"How... how do you plan to do... to do that Ciel?" Girouette asked her with an undertone of bitterness. The old woman made him look her in the eye, and in turn she gave him a rather hard look.

"We're going to give you an alibi."


	9. Employer, Employee

Giro was extremely pleased with how the new transport facility was coming together. Opening a new transport and delivery operation had been his idea; Ciel's was for him to become an engineer, Prairie had put in the idea that he should become a guard for the head of Slither Inc. Biometal Z and Giro together were the decision makers when it came time, and a delivery business within town limits was the perfect alibi for a young Reploid trying to hide a strong weapon like a Biometal.

At the moment though, some things still needed to be done before he could officially open the new business. Choosing to take a break from arranging certain boxes around in the main warehouse, Giro thought of something that made him smile before pulling Model Z out from his pocket.

"What do you think?" Giro asked as he held up the Biometal to show it the warehouse.

 _'I think you need to stop brandishing me around like a child's participation medal.'_ Model Z retorted. _'I am not a prize, nor is she going to be happy when someone walks in and blows our cover.'_

"Biometal Model X was right," Giro smiled as he cupped Model Z in both of his hands so the Biometal 'looked' at him, "You never can see the bright side to anything- can you?"

 _'Your idea of a bright side is comparable to being blinded by a lightbulb. I want none of it and you should never fall for it. If I've learned anything from my previous wills, it would be that the world can not tolerate those who stand in the light for too long- someone must crumble before progress is made.'_

"Bet I could prove you wrong." Giro told the Biometal before putting it back in his pocket again. With a smile, Giro set back to work. The Reploid worked hard for the next several hours making sure everything was ready for his first day of business.

Not once did he stop to consider that it was only him operating the business and that he had no other employees to help him. When he did take the time to consider it he figured it could have been for the best- starting out, he wasn't going to have a lot of costumers anyway so why hire a bunch of people if they weren't needed? Giro wanted to ask Model Z about this idea, but decided against it fearing that he had angered the Biometal earlier.

"H... help! Someone help me!" a muffled voice cried from somewhere near the warehouse. Instantly, Giro stopped what he was doing and ran to where he thought the voice originated from. Looking outside the warehouse's main entrance proved that no one was there.

"You're not going any where you little freak!" someone exclaimed in a tone loud enough that Giro felt inspired to run down the road to see where it came from.

"Please... I didn't do anything to you..."

Giro got close enough to the scene so he could see what was going on, but hid in a doorway so they couldn't see him. There was a smaller kid with platnium blonde hair, a lighter skintone, and black eyes; the other person there was an older male with black hair, a tanned skintone, and red eyes. With this deduction, Girouette was sure that the older was a Reploid, but he was still unsure about the younger.

 _'We need to Mega Merge.'_ Model Z's voice told Giro in a muffled tone. _'If you would like to save him, of course.'_

Giro nodded and together they Mega Merged so they could save the kid.

"Who are you?" the older Reploid demanded upon seeing Girouette fused with Model Z.

"Better question," Girouette claimed, "Why are you hurting this child?"

"He ain't no child." the Reploid told him. "And he owes me a lot of money for a lot of damage he's caused me."

"How much could he owe you when he doesn't seem to fight back?"

The Reploid gave Girouette a hard look before started to chuckle. From the back of him, the Reploid started to get out a gun and aimed it the Model Z armored Girouette.

"You caught me." the Reploid sneered. "I just like torturing Reploid children. But what are you gonna do about it? That tin suit of yours ain't nothing but show, isn't it? I don't scare easily you asshole."

Under the visor given by the Model Z armor, Girouette gave a rather slow blink before pulling out his own weapon, the zetasaber, and used it to cut the Reploid's gun in three different pieces then aimed it at the Reploid's throat. The Reploid tried to give Girouette a look of indifferent, but all it did was mask his true fear.

"You wouldn't dare." the Reploid sneered. Girouette responded by getting the saber closer to the Reploid's throat, enough to nearly puncture the artificial skin if either of them were to flinch.

"Leave." Girouette demanded in a calm tone. "I never want to see you in this part of town again. Next time... I might not show mercy."

The Reploid sneered at Girouette, but took his leave. Girouette then turned to the boy on the ground.

 _'I've completed a scan of his body; this boy is a Reploid. An illegal one apparently, do you see on his forehead? He lacks the marker.'_

"You're... an illegal Reploid. Aren't you?" Girouette asked the shivering boy.

"Y-y-yes sir." the young Reploid agreed. "Please, please spare me! I-I-I don't mean any harm, honest!"

 _'He isn't one of the Chosen Ones, I can feel that much about him. Given his current body form, he wouldn't be much stronger than a normal child his physical age either. No matter what you do with him, he's going to die at the hands of someone else eventually.'_

"Do you know what became of your creator?" Girouette then asked the Reploid.

"No." he replied as he shook his head so quickly that he surely would have snapped his neck if he were human. "I don't know where he went. One day my brothers and I were all in our creator's lab in status chambers, then the next day I woke up and it looked like a tornado had cut through. Bits of glass were everywhere, my creator's computer had been busted, enough of the roof had been taken away that rain water was coming in as thick as it poured for the sky, and... and the bodies of my brothers were... were beyond recognition..."

 _'He seems to have been a victim of a Maverick raid. But why would they spare him when it seems as if they took off with his creator? Take caution Girouette, this kid could still mean trouble if you let your guard down.'_

The Reploid kid was in such panic and remorse from trying to remember more about his past that he started to break down in tears. Girouette tilted his head at the Reploid child, weighing his options and considering the worse scenarios; not only for himself, but for the young Reploid as well.

"What is your name?" Girouette then asked.

"Sh-Sho." the Reploid replied. "Sho Minamimoto."

 _'If that is truly his surname, then I'm the Composer.'_

"Do you have a place to live?" Girouette then asked, ignoring Model Z's retorts. Sho shook his head. The corner of Giro's lips formed a smile.

"Down the road there is a warehouse," Girouette then told Sho, "It is going to be a new transporter service called Giro Express."

 _'What are you doing?!'_

"The Reploid in charge, Girouette, is looking for a few souls to help with his new business. I do not know him personally, but he seems to be a fairly kind Reploid. If you approach him and ask him, perhaps he could give you shelter... in return for an extra hand."

Sho looked up at Girouette with a newfound hope and an instilled moment of disbelief.

"You really think he'd let me help him even though I'm illegal?" Sho inquired.

 _'I'm beginning to believe that you want to be discovered as the Chosen One for Biometal Model Z, don't you? She isn't going to be happy about this.'_

"All you have to do is ask." Girouette told Sho honestly. "But you'll never know if you don't go."

Sho looked up at Girouette gratefully and with a nod started to get up and head in the direction Giro had told him to.


	10. Inaction

_It's been five years since I activated him. And, although it doesn't seem that long, it certainly seems as though he has done well so far. No one suspects him as a Biomatch, and his business is one of the most preferred in and out of the city. Our Girouette has a rather small group he communicates with semi freely about his whereabouts; an illegal Reploid named Sho and a young human girl named Juno. He trusts them, and I'm proud of him in doing so, but I fear that he may give away too much information to them one day. I know for a fact that he refused to let Sho know of Model Z, but that Juno girl…_

 _I'm confident that all I embedded in Giro was a portion of Zero's appearance and nothing else. But I'm constantly given reminders, little hints at Zero's personality and what I heard of him before, that makes me uncertain of how much of Zero's personality went into Giro. I swear it wasn't of my design, intentionally._

 _But no more of that, it's time for them to wake. Fifty years of work went into them and now it is almost time to release them into the world. Aile and Vent; that's what he decided to call them. However, I did not tell him everything about the time when they were to be born. Giro, our innocent Girouette, will need to choose one to be raised by him and leave the other behind. Although I helped Ren develop her daughter Ashe, the thought of hybrids even more perfect than hers would cause serious attention. They must be separated to keep them safe. Even I don't know what will happen to them after this…_

-Ciel Roch-Roru, taken from a note dated July 6th

. . .

 **THERE'S BEEN A SECURITY BREACH! THEY KNOW! SOMEONE KNEW ABOUT THEM! WE NEED HELP ASAP! PLEASE HURRY GIROUETTE, THE TWINS…. YOU NEED TO HELP SAVE THE TWINS! [Prairie: July 7, 2170 18:41:18]**

. . .

Giro was really starting to dislike Mavericks. The lab he was built and activated in not so long ago, all reduced to rubble and becoming more structurally unsound by the second. It used to be a grand place, but with all this destruction, he wasn't even sure if any of the building could be salvaged. Using Model Z to help navigate him through the disaster, they made it through to the secure lab where Giro was sure the twins were still being kept. Inside looked worse than the building at hole, making Girouette believe for certain that this room was the target of the attack. Standing where the capsules for twins used to be, Ciel was preparing two bundles- one covered in a red blanket and the other covered in a blue blanket.

It didn't take the Reploid a second to guess what those bundles were, and seeing them for the first time out of the capsules made his artificial heart leap into his throat.

"We only have time to take one." Ciel told him, her voice so quiet and low that he almost didn't hear her.

"What?" he questioned with the hope he heard her wrong. Ciel looked at him and stood her ground- meanwhile, the earth shook as some bomb went off somewhere else near the laboratory.

"Take one, or let them both die." said Ciel darkly. Girouette stared at her before anger started to rear its head.

"I'm not leaving without the other!" he shouted at her. Ciel's face did not change leading Girouette to believe that she was not joking, nor had the intent of saving both. How could she, after all this time, lead him to this choice when she had arms that worked just as well as his?

"Giro," Ciel's cold voice then demanded, "This place is falling apart; take a child or we will all die here!"

"I'm not…!" he started to argue, but another explosion sounded off -this one was closer- and a part of the ceiling collapsed in front of them, just barely missing the little bundles by centimeters. Ciel's face was unwavering as Girouette's anger slowly grew at her. This wasn't right. This shouldn't be a choice right now. There had to be some other way. There had to be some way to insure that both of them could make it out alive…

' _Girouette, I have an estimated five minutes before this room completely collapses- just take one!_ '

Closing his eyes with anguish, Girouette picked up the red bundle to crook it in one arm, and he roughly took hold of Ciel's wrist with the other. Seething with anger and the beginnings of what was sure to be depression, Girouette grudgingly led them out of the building just in time. Once they were in a safe place, Girouette let go of Ciel's wrist, allowed Model Z to take them out of the MegaMerge, and looked back at the lab that was now nothing more than wreckage. Away from the madness, the Reploid started to feel sick. He killed someone. Through inaction, he killed a _newborn_.

As if to remind him to half of his failed duty, the red bundle started to cry. Giro gave it a blank stare before Ciel gently took the bundle from him and started to sooth it.

"This one… the boy..." Ciel then softly said, "His name is Vent, right?"

The rest of his body as still as stone, Giro nodded his head slowly.

"And the girl, her name was Aile?"

Again, Giro nodded his head.

"You need to give a story, a cover up, to explain to Vent why he doesn't have any blood relatives." Ciel then told the Reploid. "I do not count."

His vision and clarity of thought slowly returning to him, Giro gave a stiff nod. By the time he realized he should have asked why she could not act as some bridge toward lies and truth, Ciel was long gone from anyone's communication link. At any rate, in this point of time, he was too desensitized to even articulate the inquisition.

Ciel handed Vent back to him and gave the Reploid a sorrowful kiss on the forehead.

"I have to find Prairie." she told him. "Good luck my love."

Giro said nothing as Ciel took her leave. It took him awhile, but he was able to start the walk back to Giro Express. How was he going to explain randomly bringing home a baby to everyone at the transport company? He wasn't going to lie to Juno about it- that was decided without a second's thought. But what about everyone else like Sho? What was he going to tell Vent when he was older…? Dwelling on the inevitable started to make him sick; at this point he was almost at Giro Express any way. In the distance he could hear the anticipated shouts of Juno, welcoming him back. Admittedly, it made him feel better, but then he looked down at Vent.

The memory of losing Aile was going to kill him every time he looked at Vent, and he was not ready for it.


	11. Birthdays and Tulpas

It was now Vent's third birthday, but that didn't stop deliveries from being dispersed. A special call had been made a few hours before opening- Giro was surprised that they had gotten it at all. With a small party for Vent underway, it had been decided that Giro would handle this delivery personally while Juno and Sho set up for the party.

The meeting point was going to be in the outer area of Kirjath Arba, around Area Zeta. It wasn't too tricky getting there, and at the meeting point there was a Reploid already waiting for him.

"Are you Over-1?" Girouette inquired to the Reploid as he dismounted from his bike.

The Reploid stared back at the transporter before giving a stiff nod. Smiling warmly, Girouette pulled out a rather small package from a sack connected to his bike.

"Here is your delivery sir." Giro smiled as he handed the package to the Reploid, who was taking care to not even touch the transporter as if he had some kind of disease. As odd as it was, Giro happened to look down at a young girl he wasn't aware had been with the Reploid. Seeing her made Girouette check her twice.

A bit smaller than Vent, the girl had light skin, chocolate brown hair cut short, and sparkling green eyes that stared up at him with an innate wonder. The Reploid had dressed the girl in an oversized blue t-shirt that reached mid-calf, laid over khaki tan shorts. On her feet were a pair of shoes that looked a lot like the shoes Vent had convinced Juno to buy for him. She looked so familiar that Giro mirrored the same wondering expression she was giving him.

"What a… charming little girl you have." Giro said to the Reploid, studying the girl accompanying him with a tilt of his head. In her own way, she looked a lot like… Vent? That couldn't be right. Unless… "If you do not mind, can I ask what her name is?"

"I do mind and it is none of your concern." the Reploid snapped, reminding Giro of his duties to not get involved with a client's business. "Your job is done here sir, your payment will arrive to you tomorrow through the mail."

"Of course." agreed Giro with a firm nod. "Thank you for choosing Giro Express, and we look forward to transporting your needs again in the future."

The Reploid didn't bother to say another word, instead giving a small, stiff nod before taking the child by the wrist. Knowing that business had been done, Girouette started to walk back to his bike before he heard a small voice call out to him, "Bye-bye Giwo!" and he froze dead in his spot. The voice was too close to Vent's, that it couldn't have just been a coincidence. When he turned around though, the girl was back at her caretaker's attention. There was no way… but… could it really be… Aile?

The transporter shook his head and went to his bike. He didn't have time to worry about this at the moment; he needed to worry about how trashed Giro Express was after being decorated by Juno and Sho.

The party had been set up near the dorms, in an area used just for lounging and relaxing. Someone had gone crazy with the streamers, while only a few lazy balloons were decorating the floor that everyone felt the need to kick at least once. Besides Giro, Sho, and Juno being a few of the guests, Muguet had been invited, bringing her new nurse (whose name was Rose, Giro believed) as well. A few of the transporters from Giro Express had decided to come as well, as seeing it was close to their break time anyway and they had gotten a sudden desire for cake.

It had been decided, without Giro's input, that the food was going to be served first. When everyone had had their fill of sickeningly greasy pizza and birthday cake, it was time to open the presents Vent had received. Giro had suggested that the boy only get a few from himself and the staff of Giro Express in whole, and no more than that. It seemed reasonable enough and it seemed to speed up time enough to keep Vent's attention.

The last gift Vent opened was from Giro, Sho, and Juno. It had been rather simple, just a photograph of the four together around the time Vent first came to their care. He had been real tiny then, and he stared at himself in the picture as if he couldn't recognize himself. Vent was looking at the gift from his friends as his face slowly started to break. Slowly tears started to well up in his eyes, and the gesture did not go unnoticed.

"Vent, what's wrong?" Juno inquired, instinctively getting closer to him hug him reassuringly.

"Ale..." he muttered as if he were elsewhere. Giro froze at the name and thought back to the girl earlier.

"What was that sweetie?" Juno asked, lowering her tone to be a bit more soothing.

"He leab her… Oba… Oba wan leab ale alone! Hug… ale need hug..."

Juno looked over at Giro, looking for some sense of explanation. The Reploid had none as his thoughts drifted more toward the young girl with the Reploid. He bit a small portion of his lip in thought. Everyone at the party had gone silent with these developments, leaving Vent to softly begin to cry.

"What if Juno gave you a really tight hug?" Girouette then suggested in a small stroke of genius thought. "Could you give Aile a hug that way?"

Vent didn't answer, but Juno took it as a cue to squeeze the young child gently and with as much love as she could give.

"It's alright," Juno soothed into Vent's ear gently, "I've got you. I love you. I love you so much. It's alright now, I got you. I love you, remember that, okay?"

Slowly, Vent ceased crying, but was still sad. Juno didn't give up, still whispering soothing words to Vent until he carefully wanted to push her away.

"Ale happy..." Vent carefully declared before turning to face Juno. "Nank tu Duno."

Once again, Giro was amazed at Juno's ability to calm not just Vent but, apparently, Aile (who he was now certain was with that Reploid from earlier) too.

. . .

"So," the crafty fourteen year old Juno inquired later, "Does Vent have a tulpa, or is there something you're not telling me?"

"What do you mean?" Giro pleasantly asked foreign innocence.

"Ale?" Juno reminded him, choosing a less than amused tone to emphasize her point. Giro looked around her for a moment, but knew that she wasn't going to move unless she got answers. Sheepishly, Giro didn't look at her for a moment.

"It's actually Aile..."

"It really was ale?!"

"No, Aile… A-I-L-E."

The human teenager nodded and gave a sound of understanding better. But then she had a new thought. "Who's Aile?"

To this, Giro almost all but walked away from her. Although only a few inches smaller than him, Juno succeeded in blocking the Reploid no matter what direction he took- and he was too nice to just plow her over. She was actually kinda cute when she became near dead serious…

"There are some things that you're better off not knowing." Girouette told her, placing a hand on her shoulder to gently push her. The human did her best not to move, but as Giro proved to be the stronger one of the two, she demanded seemingly to him with much frustration;

"Biometal Model Z, show yourself!"

' _Now you've done it._ ' the undeniable snark of the red Biometal remarked as it slowly raised from out of Giro's pocket and into Juno's hand.

"I'll smash it if you don't talk." Juno declared as she raised the Biometal in the air.

' _She can't, really, but I wouldn't put it past her to try._ '

"Juno, think carefully about this." Giro said to her, purposely making his voice calmer and slightly hypnotic. "The Biometal is part Reploid, and Reploids have a tenancy to combust when in critical damage. I know how much you want the truth, but do you really want to get hurt over it?"

The human girl sagged for a moment as she thought over it, but then she raised the Biometal higher.

"I want answers Giro, real ones too!" Juno declared, her face slowly turning red from frustration. "And if my health means so much to you, then you'll tell me, or we'll find out if Model Z blows up in critical damage!"

' _Oh, she good Girouette. What kind of monster have you created?_ '

"Juno, it's a really long story, I don't think you want to-"

"I want to know everything." the human teenager told him, her eyes darkening. "I want to know about Aile."

"I would like Model Z back in my care first." Girouette informed her rather bluntly. Juno did not move for a moment, her grip on the Biometal tightening.

"Aile now, Biometal later." she insisted, getting just as short as he was. Giro sighed.

"Juno, please." he begged, not wanting to start a fight with her at the moment. The human didn't flinch. Now letting out a frustrated grumble, Girouette looked back at Juno with irritation.

"Aile is Vent's sister." he finally admitted. Genuinely surprised for a moment, Juno released the Biometal and it fell to the ground with a lifeless, metallic clunk.


	12. Trauma

Girouette was working on some paperwork when Juno decided to walk up next to him, and just stood there. At first, the Reploid was able to ignore it -perhaps even enjoying the fourteen year old's presence- before he started to get suspicious.

"Can I help you?" he finally asked, looking at her from over his shoulder.

"Vent's a broken record."

The Reploid raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure?" he questioned.

Juno scrunched her face up before pleading in a high pitched, and whining tone, "Park… Park… Park… Duno pwease, park…!"

Giro nearly laughed at her.

"I'm serious, that's what he sounds like!" Juno complained, stamping her foot in the ground to assert her notion.

"Reminds me of someone else." the Reploid smirked. For a moment, Juno was confused before she realized that he had meant herself. With a near insulted huff, the teenager folded her arms in defiance.

"I was nothing like that." she quickly claimed, even sounding miffed at the idea. "I was silent for a year!"

"You weren't silent forever." Giro then reminded her, giving a soft smile as he remembered the day she decided to speak again. For a fleeting moment, she did too, and her face started to flush a deep red. Although it had only been Giro's name she said, it held a lot of meaning for both of them in a way that neither could completely explain.

"Either way," Juno then decided, getting their minds off the subject, "I took that child to the park last time, it's your turn."

"I thought we both took him." the Reploid questioned, now looking a bit confused.

"No," Juno informed him, "We _were_ supposed to all go together, but remember we had a last minute request, and you took to it personally. Therefore _I_ took Vent to the park and we came back to find that you were still out."

"You can take him again today too, can't you?" the Reploid then asked her. The teenager gave the Reploid a look that illustrated full well that she had no intent on doing so. Giro reclined a bit, before putting on a rather playful smile and saying, in a higher pitched, whining tone,

"Please Duno. Park? Park Duno, please! Park, park, park..?! Duno please…!"

The reaction he got was a rather hilarious expression of pure displeasure as Juno puckered her lips together in an attempt to hold her tongue, and her body stiffened with a faint bitterness as she spun on her heel to get Vent.

Laughing, Giro shouted from behind her in a genuinely gracious tone, "Thank you!"

. . .

It was some hours later before Girouette received a call on his communicator.

"Thank you for contacting Giro Express," the Reploid greeted as per norm, "We can transport anything, any-"

"Giro!" the pleading, desperate voice of Juno cried. To hear her so desperate was truly a surprise.

"Juno? Juno, are you alright?"

"Mavericks..." was the weeping reply, nearly stopping Giro's artificial heart, "Mavericks are everywhere, they came from nowhere and… and Vent… I don't know..."

Although he hadn't been aware of it at first, Girouette was already heading off to the park.

"Stay away from their sight." he warned her as he subconsciously made sure Model Z was with him before boarding on a transport bike. "I'm coming right now. Got it? I'll get you and Vent safe and sound, do you understand me Juno?"

Although she didn't directly answer, Girouette heard the girl give a sound indicating that she had given a stiff nod.

"I'm coming." he told her once more before closing the communication line. As he went in route to the park, Girouette then called up the commander of the Guardians, Prairie.

"Direct line to Guardian HQ, this is Commander Prairie." the young Reploid girl's voice resonated through his headset.

"Commander, this is Girouette," the Reploid said in a dark tone, "There is a Maverick outbreak in Area S-3."

"Already on it." the commander told him. "We have troops in route as we speak."

"Juno and Vent are in the middle of it." he then replied. "Vent is out of Juno's sight and I fear that she might fall right into the Maverick's hands. Can you insure that there is some air surveillance to keep tabs on them?"

"I'll see what I can do." came the answer.

"Thank you Commander." Girouette admitted, although not feeling any better before closing the connection.

It took him another five minutes before he entered the park. The Guardians had already taken some other folks in the area to a safe zone outside, for a fleeting moment Girouette wondered if Vent or Juno had been among the rescued.

"What's the status?" Girouette demanded to the first Guardian he saw. Having been Merged with Model Z at this point, the Guardian knew who he was and gave a swift salute in reverence.

"We've been getting anyone out we could find. We even found a child requesting for Juno and yourself. He seemed unhurt, although it was an odd thing- the Galleons just _stopped_ in front of him, as if there was something they recognized."

"But you haven't located Juno yet?"

The Guardian shook his head. "No sir, sorry sir."

"I'm going in then." Girouette decided, not waiting for the Guardian's answer before heading inside the park.

Taking out any Mavericks he came across, Girouette advanced through the park as he tried to adjust his hearing range to tune directly to Juno's vocal vibration. He found her face to face with a Galleon that was prepared to shoot. Perhaps blacking out for a moment in his own judgment, Girouette dashed toward the Galleon and used a single swing of Model Z's saber to slice its head off. Juno stood frozen as the Galleon fell to the ground in a lifeless heap, revealing a Merged Girouette behind it. She looked at him for a moment before her eyes rolled back into her head and fainted on the spot.

Reacting quickly enough, Girouette dove for her before she completely collapsed on the ground, scooping her up with care. Worried, the Reploid looked the girl over for any damage. A few scrapes here and there, but otherwise fine, Girouette allowed himself to relax as he carried her back out to the Guardian's rescue point. At some point, she started to stir again. As she became more aware of her surroundings, Juno's body clenched. The low sounds of mumbles alerted him that she did not recognize him at first, and was giving off pleas of being spared.

"It's just me." Girouette soothed. Slowly, after recognizing his calm, soothing voice, Juno relaxed again.

"Are you alright?" the Reploid then asked her, if only to make sure she was coherent enough.

"Vent... where's...?"

"The Guardians have him." Girouette told her. "Now I have you. We're leaving the park to get to a safe point. I'll have to demerge from Model Z before I can take you home though. Can you hold in until then, after we get you to the safe point?"

Juno gave a small nod. But didn't say a single word, an act that Giro feared was the beginning of something bad.

. . .

Juno didn't show up for dinner that night. Her lack of presence was felt to everyone that reporting to the dining hall, and the heavy discussion of why she wasn't went unsaid. This overwhelming feeling, with no explanation on why, left three year old Vent to believe he was the cause of it (as he was the one who wanted to go to the park to begin with) and began to feel his own level of depression.

It was late when Girouette started to make his way to his dorm for the night. On his way through, he saw Vent staring at Juno's door as if he was waiting for it to open. Curious, Giro made his way over to Vent and looked the child over.

"Vent…?" he inquired, making the child jump a little from surprise, "What are you doing out here so late? You should be in bed."

The young child looked at Giro before pointing at Juno's door. "Duno."

Girouette gave Vent an odd look before he realized that he could hear her, crying from the other side of the door.

"Bent maded Duno sad..." the little boy then told his caretaker. A remorseful little tear welled up in his eye before slipping down his cheek. Conflicted on who to sympathize with first, Giro picked up Vent and started to take him back to his room.

"It wasn't your fault." Girouette told the child in a soothing voice. "Juno has some bad memories, they give her sad feelings sometimes if she remembers them. But that's okay, as long as we're here to make her happy again. Got it?"

As Giro set Vent down on his bed, the toddler looked up at the Reploid with big, thoughtful eyes. What would Girouette had given to know what Vent's brain was processing at that moment, but knew he was never going to get an answer.

"Maybe we'll make a big breakfast tomorrow." Girouette then offered as he covered the boy up in his blanket. "We can make everything Juno likes. What do you think about that?"

The boy, a big eater at such a young age, made his eyes grow wide before giving an eagerly approving nod. Giro smiled at Vent as he gave the child a brief kiss on the forehead before leaving the boy.

Girouette knocked twice on Juno door, but she did not answer.

"Juno?" Giro inquired as he knocked again. "Juno, are you alright?"

With another empty answer, Girouette took the initiative to open up her door enough to look in. What he saw inside nearly broke his heart. Sitting on her bed, curled into a ball, was a catatonic Juno. Mumbling incoherently, and crying in a tone that almost sounded like a pitiful wail.

"Juno..." Girouette softly sighed as he walked over to her. The girl did not directly answer, instead curling herself into tighter. Carefully, Giro sat next to her and just looked at her- in this state, there wasn't much he could do for her, unless she wanted him to.

The teen was aware of his presence, but she couldn't will herself to move. Her voice didn't seem to work either. With this in mind, and the already intimidating reminder of her past traumas, Juno was overwhelmed enough that she wasn't even sure why she was aware at the moment. Through some kind of psychic link, however, Girouette slowly put a hand on Juno's back and slid it around to give her a light embrace.

"I shouldn't have let you and Vent go to the park," the Reploid then told her, his voice in remorse and angered at himself. "We could have all gone together, or… or maybe we could have gone another day. I didn't mean for this to happen Juno, and I'm sorry. I'm so… so sorry that I hurt you."

The teenager was able to open her mouth to tell him that it wasn't his fault (who can control or predict Mavericks anyway?) but all that emitted was a tiny, invariably heartbreaking, squeak. Seeing her like this broke Giro as he wrapped his other arm around her. Realizing how awkward the position had become, he then worked to rearrange them so he had her sitting in his lap the same way he would have rocked Vent to sleep.

A small sigh from the girl led Girouette to believe that she was content with this position, and he allowed himself to place his chin at the top of her head. Juno still didn't come out of her catatonic state though.

"Juno… oh, Juno..." Giro softly mumbled to her, holding her tight. "You're safe now. It's alright… Vent's in bed now sleeping, Sho is trying to sleep, and I'm right here with you. It's alright now. I'll never allow you to be hurt under my watch, you know that. You're always safe with me… always."

Juno closed her eyes, nuzzling closer to her mentor. She opened her mouth, in another attempt to speak,

"Stay..." the young woman croaked weakly. He could just barely hear it, but he could feel her vocal cords vibrate against his chest. "Stay… stay…!"

"I won't leave." Girouette told her soothingly. "I'll protect you. Nothing will happen to you now… I promise… It's alright now Juno..."

In saying this, Giro moved them to a better position to recline in so they too could go to sleep that night. Quietly, softly telling her calming words, Giro continued to talk to Juno until he knew that she was sleeping. Then, a bit stubbornly on his part, he too drifted off into a dreamless slumber.


End file.
